March Hatch-A-Long

[Chicksnmind]

So my egg that has pipped yesterday at five thirty still hasn’t made it out..hole is bigger and I can see it moving and it’s beak is out of shell so can breathe.. but pipped on opposite end of shell..how long before I should try to help? Honestly as of now he’s moving and very slowly making some progress

As long as he can breath and the membrane looks like it’s not drying out I would leave it alone. I only opened part of the shell on mine because I hadn’t seen the beak and I was worried that it would get in a position that it couldn’t breath. Once the shell is more opened like mine then you really have to watch for shrink wrapping.

Hopefully my chick won’t shrink wrap. I have the humidity up and it has coconut oil on all of the exposed membrane. I just had another chick hatch and it was flopping all over so I took it out so it wouldn’t mess with the chick with the open shell

It’s not making progress though and if it’s the same way tomorrow I will help out more.


This little silkie is small but mighty and a bit of a bully. I had right separate it from my other chick so it could rest.

 

[Ms Biddy]

So my egg that has pipped yesterday at five thirty still hasn’t made it out..hole is bigger and I can see it moving and it’s beak is out of shell so can breathe.. but pipped on opposite end of shell..how long before I should try to help? Honestly as of now he’s moving and very slowly making some progress

If he's moving and making progress that's great.

 

[Ms Biddy]

I only opened part of the shell on mine because I hadn’t seen the beak and I was worried that it would get in a position that it couldn’t breath. Once the shell is more opened like mine then you really have to watch for shrink wrapping.

Hopefully my chick won’t shrink wrap. I have the humidity up and it has coconut oil on all of the exposed membrane. I just had another chick hatch and it was flopping all over so I took it out so it wouldn’t mess with the chick with the open shell
View attachment 1719239

How did the inner membrane look? On one of the chicks I helped this go round, I removed shell and split the outer membrane but the inner membrane had shrunk around part of the chick's head and this is what was keeping it from turning or breaking free.

 

[Chicksnmind]

How did the inner membrane look? On one of the chicks I helped this go round, I removed shell and split the outer membrane but the inner membrane had shrunk around part of the chick's head and this is what was keeping it from turning or breaking free.

Well I was gone for a few hours and I read your post and thought that maybe I shouldn’t wait till tomorrow. I found the chick more shrink wrapped despite the humidity and coconut oil.

There was no way this chick was getting out by itself. It was very tired of trying.

So I did egg surgery with my 9 yr daughter watching. I was so nervous it was going to bleed out.

I had to oil a few places where the membrane started sticking and cut a little bit of fluff off in spots ( not much).

The other side of the shell was harder to get off. I carefully cut with clean nail scissors.

Chick was so tired it didn’t struggle much at all.

It looks like it might be splayed leg but hard to tell until it moves more. It seems ok just tired ..

So now that I’ve hatched 4 I have 9 left. I candled them since non were pipped. Two of them look to me to be dead in shell and there’s 3 that are chirping. One looks like it might have its rear in the air cell (ugg not again)..I’m really hoping that’s not the case.


My bug eyed chick looks so much better! For most of the day it couldnt open it’s eyes. They were so swollen. I thought maybe it was deformed. I wipped them with a warm wash cloth and put eye lubricant on. Hours later it’s opening its eyes and the swelling has gone down. It’s the chick in the middle.

 

[Ms Biddy]

@Chicksnmind I've noticed they can have what appears to be facial edema at hatch. It does tend to go down and as the down fluffs up, the eyes become less prominent. Sometimes their feet look swollen too. Several of mine came out with really crooked looking toes. These all straightened out completely withing a few hours. Keep us posted on the one you just helped.

 

[notasilkie]

We have more pips! I removed some of the shell of the one that pipped yesterday so I could check the inner membrane. It did look quite tight, I have made it a bit damp again with some warm water but not tried helping the chick break through. I'm not sure where its beak is anymore. So hard to know when I am helping and when I am potentially making it worse! Next hatch are going in lockdown and thats it, no opening at all for 3 or 4 days!

 

[Chicksnmind]

We have more pips! I removed some of the shell of the one that pipped yesterday so I could check the inner membrane. It did look quite tight, I have made it a bit damp again with some warm water but not tried helping the chick break through. I'm not sure where its beak is anymore. So hard to know when I am helping and when I am potentially making it worse! Next hatch are going in lockdown and thats it, no opening at all for 3 or 4 days!

You need to get coconut oil. It won’t dry out as fast as water and it’s healthy for them. In my case it helped unstick the chick from the membrane.


My chick made it through the night and while it still lays around it seems to have more energy. It wants to be with the other chicks. I think It does have a splayed leg. One seems to go off to the side when it try’s to walk. Should I wash and dry the chick (has coconut oil)before I attempt to put the brace on? Or maybe I should wait longer for the chick to recover from the hatch?

 

[SA Farm]

My chick made it through the night and while it still lays around it seems to have more energy. It wants to be with the other chicks. I think It does have a splayed leg. One seems to go off to the side when it try’s to walk. Should I wash and dry the chick (has coconut oil)before I attempt to put the brace on? Or maybe I should wait longer for the chick to recover from the hatch?

I’d wait longer. Unless both legs are obviously splayed, I wouldn’t tape it until it’s been hatched at least a day to give it time to work out the kinks for itself.
A lot of chicks look splayed the first day after hatching. As long as they have a good floor/substrate that they can grip to strengthen themselves with, they don’t typically need assistance.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

You need to get coconut oil. It won’t dry out as fast as water and it’s healthy for them. In my case it helped unstick the chick from the membrane.


My chick made it through the night and while it still lays around it seems to have more energy. It wants to be with the other chicks. I think It does have a splayed leg. One seems to go off to the side when it try’s to walk. Should I wash and dry the chick (has coconut oil)before I attempt to put the brace on? Or maybe I should wait longer for the chick to recover from the hatch?

I think waiting a little longer to see if it just needs to gather its strength after a difficult hatch is ok, but if it really is splay leg, treating it quickly is important - I wouldn't wait more than 24 hours.

I've noticed that chicks that have difficulty hatching often seem to have leg problems (which makes sense when you consider the mechanics of hatching)...making me hesitant to assist much anymore. On the other hand, I've found splay leg pretty easy to correct, so hoping your chick's leg issues resolves favorably soon!

 

[Chicksnmind]

I will wait a bit longer for it to get more strength. Both legs aren’t going out.

Sometimes it looks normal .

Then sometimes not.

Saying hello to the new guy.

Hatching news I have another one that pipped in the middle side. It’s making progress (has a little line going) so I’m not touching it unless I need too. Today is day 21 for the ones that first started in the incubator and day 22 for the ones that I took out of the nest. The one that I helped out yesterday, was from the nest at day 2 when she had been off the nest for 5hrs. The other 2that I took after 4 days when hen was only sitting at night are still cooking. After I tookthose eggs broody says she was fully done and went back to roosting at night.

Is pipping at the wrong side a Orpington thing? Lack of turning day 8-14th day while I was out of town? Temperatures too high? I had a hard time with the thermometers . Two went bad after the first couple of days and the other two were mostly close to each other. I think I will buy new ones for the Easter hatch.

First time with this issue..though this is only my third hatch and my first incubator one.